A forum for civil debate that promotes progressive alternatives to current challenges and a firm voice for the Patriotic Left.

Monday, December 18, 2006

FBI Reports Crime Is On the Rise

According to the FBI there is a resurgence of violent crime. The Bureau’s Uniform Crime Report indicates a 4% increase in homicides, assaults and other violent offenses during the first six months of 2006 compared with 2005. Perhaps more alarming is a 10% increase in robberies which criminologists sometimes regard as a bellwether of future trends. 2005 represented a 2.5% increase in violent crime compared with 2004 so there does seem to be a trend.

What could be the cause? Local law enforcement officials are critical of the Bush Administration’s focus on homeland security at the expense of traditional crime fighting. Demographically there is also an increase in the number of young men more inclined to commit crime.

I know the knee jerk response from conservatives will be to focus on our “culture of death.” True, culture does play an important part in crime. One can become jaded to violence through popular culture as well as a political culture that promotes endless war. I hope however that economic causes will not be overlooked in coming years. Young men with marginal skills are finding it more difficult to survive and have less hope.

If this trend continues one can expect conservatives will attempt to exploit crime as a wedge. It’s worked for them before and they’re losing ground on a range of other issues including fiscal responsibility, national security, values and global warming. With more Democrats controlling governorships and state legislatures it is likely conservatives will appeal to populist fear and distort the real causes of crime. Fear mongering through gay bashing, stoking anger against immigrants and paranoia about terrorists hiding underneath your pillow only goes so far after awhile.

1 comment:

The report stated that the FBI hand't yet assigned a cause to the rise in Crime. If it's going to become a political issue though, the Democrats need to reframe the argument.

Namely, the Conservative "Prison Culture" is not working. There is always going to be a portion of the population who end up in prison, but I would rather create more opportunity than prisons, and the best way to create more opportunity is through education -- better schooling and more funding for the same.

The conservative determination to undercut public funding at every turn is part and parcel of their "prison culture". It's always easier to limit opportunity than to create opportunity.

Search This Blog

About Me

I'm an information professional with a Bachelor of Arts from Sarah Lawrence College and Masters in Library Science from Queens College Graduate School for Library and Information Studies.
Obviously, I have to earn a living and therefore won't be able to post new entries everyday. However, I will make every effort to regulary unscreen comments from others.
Please be advised that my podcast interviews originally posted here can also be accessed for free on Itunes. Simply search in the Itunes store for Intrepid Liberal Journal or Robert Ellman.

PLEASE CONTRIBUTE TO THIS BLOG

I hope the content of this blog is appreciated and I humbly request readers make a donation by either clicking on the button below or completing a purchase through the Amazon.com advertisements. Another option is to click on the Google text advertisements. It happens that having my podcast interviews stored on a host site costs money and so does some of the research I do. So, even though blogspot is free, the content I provide does add up over time. I appreciate the consideration and understanding.